Mask
by BuRiChiFaN
Summary: She'd been watching as the other succumbed to her pain. As she'd known, there were just a few things that would never change. And with that thought, she chose to keep IT forever to herself. Tsumugi-centric.


Expect a number of errors. Pardon them as well. =]

**DISCLAIMER: _I don't own anything but Ricchan. And just so recently, Nodoka as well. *shot to death*_**

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**-Prologue-**

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I saw her ran breathlessly in despair as the sky above began to gloom. The gray clouds obstructed any clarity that the heavens once had from moments ago, bestowing a dull imagery upon the environment below.

It wasn't long before droplets of water prickled down the earth, not sparing the solid ground she was mercilessly running on.

But she paid no heed to it.

She kept leading her legs to follow that plane. Her short xanthous locks, which was kept by her trademark hairband, ridiculously flowed in accordance with the air's gush caused by her running.

The pitter-pattering of raindrops became fully audible. I shoved my eyes over the taxi-ing plane as its engine vibrated against my ear. And as I witnessed it finally ascend to fly, my gaze sadly picked up at the lone figure at the runway.

"Ricchan..." I heard my friend Yui say in quietude. Her tone was with utmost worry.

"Ritsu-sempai..." Azusa's voice followed, hinting sadness.

All three of us only stood there, helplessly watching the drummer trail after something that was already impossible to catch. Her figure was in a blur to see because of her distance from us. The fall of the rain caused the surrounding to be a tad foggy as well.

"Ricchan..." I caught myself in a whisper as I unknowingly clutch on my chest. "...that is enough..." I resumed as if she could hear me.

Ritsu seemed to ignore that she was merely exhausting herself for nothing, until she tripped herself over the rough ground.

Under our umbrellas, the three of us gasped in panic. Before I knew it, I was already trudging my way to her direction, unmindful of how far I needed just to reach her. I heard Yui and Azusa call my name.

But I didn't reel back to look at them.

The girl from afar slowly sat up from being sprawled from the soaked ground. She didn't stand up and only let herself be showered by one of nature's phenomena.

The girl simply didn't care.

My feet incessantly padded over the wet ground. Then in no time, I finally arrived where she's at. Albeit her back was the only thing I could see, I knew what's goin' on.

She was weeping.

I clenched over my chest once more.

Gone was the tough and energetic Ricchan I knew. And now, it's being replaced by a fragile girl who appeared to be in need of so much comfort.

I moved to her soaked form and bent down to her level. Without preamble, I wrapped an arm around her from behind and pressed myself against her back. As I held the umbrella with my one hand, I didn't mind that she was already wetting the front of my dress. I tightened the embrace even more.

"Mugi..." she said in between her sorrow.

I couldn't say anything to her during that time. I thought of nothing to soothe her aside from what I was doing. As pain mingled with the rain's cry, I heard myself say,

"Gomen ne, Ricchan..."

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**A/N:** Ok, I actually started writing this since a decade ago *killed* LOL. Kidding aside, it's around the time I finished watching 'that' episode. But sadly, I never got to finish it since I was too busy with the show itself and other things. XD

This was also inspired by a fic dearest to my heart . T_T I love you Ice-san! XD

And originally, this was supposed to be a very, very, very long oneshot! LOL. But seeing that might not be a good thing, I'm now breaking it down to 3-4 chapters or more than that. 'am not sure since I'm not yet done with the whole thing although how this ends has been plating out in my brain. XD And oh, plans for 3 other k-on fics have been tumbling in my head, too, as I began writing this: One Mio POV version of this; another story; and a side story to the latter. xD I'm just hoping I'd be able to write all of those, given that I'm such a lazy ass. LOL. Anyway, enough with the nonsense. This will be my last long rambling here. XD

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**Thanks for reading! Drop me a review too if you like. XD**


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